New Releases by Nicola Griffith

Widely acclaimed as a novelist, here Nicola Griffith displays her power, precision, and clarity of thought in multiple modes and forms. Known for her gorgeously supple prose that soars effortlessly over genre boundaries, Griffith is also an incisive essayist whose ground-breaking, data-driven work on gender bias in the literary ecosystem sparked self-searching conversations worldwide. In this heady mélange of essays, poems, art, and stories—some seen here for the first time—the author makes foundational assertions about love versus ownership (“Wife”), advocates for the writer as explorer (“Branding: It Burns”), and points out the gaping hole in our literary landscape where we’d expect to find disability fiction (“Overwriting the Old Story”). These and other public-facing essays are followed by four powerfully intimate poems. Returning to prose, Griffith immerses us so seamlessly in her viscerally imagined fiction that we feel how it is to be hurled like light through the stars in “Glimmer,” hunted through the urban alleys of “Cold Wind” during a holiday blizzard, swept along irresistible currents of “Down the Path of the Sun,” and, in “Many Things in Dumnet,” a novella published here for the first time, brought ashore as a stranger to land where something is very wrong. Finally, “Otherwise Unremarkable,” series editor Nisi Shawl''s interview with the author, teases out sometimes startling and always satisfying answers to questions on power, activism, immigration, cognitive poetics, and art.

“I can’t rave enough about The Blue Place. It just slayed me.” —Dennis Lehane "If Jack Reacher had a sister, she''d be Aud Torvingen . . . he would love her, but he''d be a little scared of her, too." ―Lee Child Aud Torvingen is a rangy six-footer with eyes the color of cement and the tendency to hurt people who get in her way. Born in Norway, a land of ice and snow, she now lives in Atlanta, luxuriating in the lush heat and brashness, gliding easily between the worlds of the elegant elite and the criminal underbelly, beautiful and functional as a folded razor. On an April evening between thunderstorms, Aud turns a corner and collides with a running woman. She catches the scent of clean, rain-wet hair, thinks, Today, you are lucky, and moves on—and behind her a house explodes in a tiger lily of flames. When Aud turns back, the woman is gone. But the woman, Julia, returns, seeking Aud’s protection in a deadly international game of art forgery, drugs, money laundering, and murder. But Aud knows danger. When danger sits opposite and offers you the dice, you should walk away. Danger loads the dice, it cheats. But for Julia, Aud will play—and risk losing herself in that cool blue place where everything slows to crystal clarity and violence is bliss . . . The first book in Nicola Griffith’s beloved Aud trilogy, The Blue Place reshapes the noir suspense novel into something refreshing and excitingly new.

Named a Best Book of the Year by Vox and Autostraddle Making a much-anticipated return to the world of Hild, Nicola Griffith’s Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change. Hild is no longer the bright child who made a place in Edwin Overking’s court with her seemingly supernatural insight. She is eighteen, honed and tested, the formidable lady of Elmet, now building her personal stronghold in the valley of Menewood. But old alliances are fraying. Younger rivals are snapping at Edwin’s heels. War is brewing—bitter war, winter war. Not knowing whom to trust, Edwin becomes volatile and recalls his young advisor to court. There Hild begins to understand the true extent of the chaos ahead—and realizes she must find a way to navigate the turbulence and fight to protect both the kingdom and her own people. She will face the losses and devastation of total war, and then must summon the determination to forge a radically different path for herself and her people. In the valley, her last redoubt, Hild draws strength from the fierce joy she finds in the natural world, as, slowly, her community takes root. She trains herself and her unexpected allies in new ways of thinking, learning what it means to gather and wield true power. And she prepares for one last wager: risking all on a single throw for a better future. In the last decade, Hild has become a beloved classic of epic storytelling. Menewood exceeds it in every way.

Winner of the ADCI Literary Prize Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize Finalist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction Finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel Finalist for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel Finalist for the HWA Gold Crown Award for Historical Fiction "[A] queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era."—Los Angeles Times "A pleasure to follow [and] a lovely flexing of Griffith’s strengths in short form." —The New York Times Book Review “Spectacular—I''ve been waiting years for this book to exist.” —Maria Dahvana Headley, author of Beowulf: A New Translation "If Le Guin wrote a Camelot story, I imagine it would feel like Spear: humane, intelligent, and deeply beautiful. It''s a new story with very old bones, a strange place that feels like home." —Alix E. Harrow, author of A Spindle Splintered A Shelf Awareness Best of the Year pick A Vulture Best Fantasy of the Year pick She left all she knew to find who she could be . . . She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and sets out on her bony gelding for Caer Leon. With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home. The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we''ve longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

“Spectacular—I''ve been waiting years for this book to exist.” —Maria Dahvana Headley, author of Beowulf: A New Translation "If Le Guin wrote a Camelot story, I imagine it would feel like Spear: humane, intelligent, and deeply beautiful. It''s a new story with very old bones, a strange place that feels like home." —Alix E. Harrow, author of A Spindle Splintered Download a FREE sneak peek today! She left all she knew to find who she could be . . . She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and sets out on her bony gelding for Caer Leon. With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home. The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we''ve longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"[This novel is] the profoundly personal and emphatically political story of a confident woman forced to confront an unnerving new reality when in the space of a single week her wife leaves her and she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis"--Amazon.com.

Sie erwacht auf der Straße im strömenden Regen, ohne Kleidung, ohne Identität. Lore van de Oest war die Tochter eines der mächtigsten Männer auf dem Markt für Biotechnik – jetzt ist sie ein Niemand, ihre Existenz wurde in den weltweiten Daten-Netzen gelöscht. Auf der Flucht vor unbekannten, erbarmungslosen Verfolgern nimmt sie die Hilfe einer Frau an, deren illegale Geschäfte Lore in die dunkel schillernde demi-monde Europas führen. Doch den Schatten ihrer Vergangenheit vermag sie auch dort nicht zu entfliehen... Untiefen – ein spektakulärer Science-Fiction-Roman der Autorin von Ammonit und Der blaue Ort, ergänzt um ein Essay, welches die Entstehung des Romans eingehender beleuchtet.

"Hild Hild is born into a world in transition. In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, usually violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods'' priests are worrying. Edwin of Northumbria plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild is the king''s youngest niece. She has the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world--of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing human nature and predicting what will happen next--that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her. She establishes herself as the king''s seer. And she is indispensable--until she should ever lead the king astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, her family, her loved ones, and the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can read the world and see the future. Hild is a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early medieval age--all of it brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith''s luminous prose. Recalling such feats of historical fiction as Hilary Mantel''s Wolf Hall and Sigrid Undset''s Kristin Lavransdatter, Hild brings a beautiful, brutal world--and one of its most fascinating, pivotal figures, the girl who would become St. Hilda of Whitby--to vivid, absorbing life" -- goodreads.com

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction (new and classic works), articles, interviews and art. Our February 2015 issue (#101) contains: Original Fiction by Kristine Kathryn Rusch ("The Last Surviving Gondola Widow"), Gwendolyn Clare ("Indelible"), Kelly Robson ("The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill"), and Rich Larson ("Meshed"). Reprints from Greg van Eekhout ("The Osteomancer''s Son"), Nicola Griffith ("It Takes Two"). Non-fiction by Mark Cole (What in the World Do They Want, Anyway?), interviews with Liza Groen Trombi and Tang Fei, an Another Word column by Dawn Metcalf, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.

"Cold Wind", by Nicola Griffith, is a dark fantasy tale about a woman who enters a Seattle bar on a cold wintry night in the midst of the Christmas holidays, searching for something...or someone. "Rich description here. One thing about a writer like Griffith, I can read an opening like this with complete confidence there won’t be a glittery vampire in the bathroom."--Locus At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Daughter of a poisoned prince and a crafty noblewoman, quiet, bright-minded Hild arrives at the court of King Edwin of Northumbria, where the six-year-old takes on the role of seer/consiglieri for a monarch troubled by shifting allegiances and Roman emissaries attempting to spread their new religion.

Archaeologist-turned-looter Matthew Carse is flung back in Mars'' history by the sword of a fallen god, where he allies with the Sea Kings and their psychic allies against the tyrannical people of the Serpent.

Lesbian self-defence expert and freelance crime fighter Aud Torvingen has trained herself to achieve a fierce, machine-like precision, in hand-to-hand combat as well as life. But, a confrontation with her own limits causes her self-defence classes to spin violently out of her grasp and, still reeling from the consequences, she embarks on a seemingly simple investigation of Seattle real estate fraud that pulls her into something far more complicated and dangerous than she had imagined.

Anéantie par la perte de Julia, sa bien-aimée, Aud s''est réfugiée en Caroline du Nord, dans un chalet qu''elle restaure seule, au milieu d''une nature resplendissante. Les oiseaux chantent mais l''image et la voix de Julia ne cessent de hanter la jeune femme. Jusqu''au jour où ce douloureux travail de deuil est interrompu par l''arrivée de Dornan, le meilleur ami d''Aud : il vient la supplier de retrouver sa fiancée, Tammy, disparue sans laisser d''adresse. Aud hésite, se méfiant de la révolte qui gronde en elle depuis la mort de Julia. Pourtant elle se résigne à quitter son isolement et à partir à la recherche de Tammy, qu''elle retrouve dans un loft à New York, hébétée et en état de choc. Par bribes, Tammy relate son histoire : séduite par un bel homme d''affaires qui s''est révélé être un dangereux pervers, elle a vécu en recluse trois mois durant, à la merci de cet individu abject. Et peu à peu, Aud découvre que Tammy n''est pas la seule victime de cet homme, qui ne recule devant rien pour assouvir ses pulsions. Un monde noir, des personnalités sombres et ambiguës, tout ce qu''Aud a voulu fuir, tout ce qu''elle essaye de conjurer. Saura-t-elle maîtriser la violence qu''elle porte en elle ?

Nicola Griffith, winner of the Tiptree Award and the Lambda Award for her widely acclaimed first novel Ammonite, now turns her attention closer to the present in Slow River, the dark and intensely involving story of a young woman''s struggle for survival and independence on the gritty underside of a near-future Europe. She awoke in an alley to the splash of rain. She was naked, a foot-long gash in her back was still bleeding, and her identity implant was gone. Lore Van de Oest was the daughter of one of the world''s most powerful families...and now she was nobody. Then out of the rain walked Spanner, an expert data pirate who took her in, cared for her wounds, and gave her the freedom to reinvent herself again and again. No one could find Lore if she didn''t want to be found: not the police, not her family, and not the kidnappers who had left her in that alley to die. She had escaped...but she paid for her newfound freedom in crime, deception, and degradation--over and over again. Lore had a choice: She could stay in the shadows, stay with Spanner...and risk losing herself forever. Or she could leave Spanner and find herself again by becoming someone else: stealing the identity implant of a dead woman, taking over her life, and inventing her future. But to start again, Lore required Spanner''s talents--Spanner, who needed her and hated her, and who always had a price. And even as Lore agreed to play Spanner''s games one final time, she found that there was still the price of being a Van de Oest to be paid. Only by confronting her past, her family, and her own demons could Lore meld together who she had once been, who she had become, and the person she intended to be.... In Slow River, Nicola Griffith skillfully takes us deep into the mind and heart of her complex protagonist, where the past must be reconciled with the present if the future is ever to offer solid ground. Slow River poses a question we all hope never to need to answer: Who are you when you have nothing left?

Aud (it rhymes with "shroud" ) Torvingen is six feet tall with blond hair and blue eyes. She can restore a log cabin with antique tools or put a man in a coma with her bare hands. As imagined by Nicola Griffith in this ferocious masterpiece of literary noir, Aud is a hero who combines the tortured complexity with moral authority. In the aftermath of her lover''s murder, the last thing a grieving Aud wants is another case. Against her better judgment she agrees to track down an old friend''s runaway fiancée--and finds herself up against both a sociopath so artful that the law can''t touch him, and the terrible specters of loss and guilt. As stylish as this year''s Prada and as arresting as a razor at the throat, Stay places Nicola Griffith in the first rank of new-wave crime writers. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Atlanta, une nuit d''avril, aux alentours de minuit. Aud Torvingen, ancienne policière dont le physique de mannequin cache un tempérament et des muscles d''acier, est témoin de l''incendie d''une maison. La police retrouve le propriétaire mort, ainsi qu''une importante quantité de cocaïne. Sur les lieux du crime, Aud croise Julia Lyons-Bennet, une séduisante marchande d''art qui avait chargé la victime d''expertiser un tableau. Une toile dont l''authenticité était douteuse. Aud aime les femmes autant que les armes à feu. Elle va accepter de mener l''enquête pour le compte de Julia, sans se douter que le monde des amateurs d''art, sous son étincelant vernis, cache de redoutables exactions.

Winner of the Lambda and Tiptree Awards • “A knockout . . . Strong, likable characters, a compelling story, and a very interesting take on gender.”—Ursula K. Le Guin Change or die. These are the only options available on planet Jeep. Centuries earlier, a deadly virus shattered the original colony, killing the men and forever altering the few surviving women. Now, generations after the colony lost touch with the rest of humanity, a company arrives to exploit Jeep—and its forces find themselves fighting for their lives. Terrified of spreading the virus, the company abandons its employees, leaving them afraid and isolated from the natives. In the face of this crisis, anthropologist Marghe Taishan arrives to test a new vaccine. As she risks death to uncover the women’s biological secret, she finds that she too is changing—and realizes that not only has she found a home on Jeep, but that she alone carries the seeds of its destruction. . . . Ammonite is an unforgettable novel that questions the very meanings of gender and humanity. As readers share in Marghe’s journey through an alien world, they too embark on a parallel journey of fascinating self-exploration. “A powerful story of connection, allegiance, and obligation. Read Nicola Griffith’s book—and keep an eye out for her name in the future.”—Vonda N. McIntyre “A marvelous blend of high adventure and mind-boggling social speculation.”—Kim Stanley Robinson